


His Own Place in the World

by Ertal77



Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Brotp, Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-21 22:48:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11954310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ertal77/pseuds/Ertal77
Summary: Mizuki and Aoba together always meant trouble!Set during the Sly Blue period (so pre-Dmmd). No ship in this fic, sorry, only friendship.





	His Own Place in the World

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Nitrochiexchange for Aru!
> 
> I hope you like your gift! Thank you so much for allowing me to write about my beloved BrOTP <3

The old woman approached the wide and well-lit cell treading loudly, managing to look threatening despite being so small and frail. At least ten pairs of eyes started to follow her steps with curiosity, making her feel rather awkward. But the scared face of her grandson was worth it: exactly the effect she was expecting. It almost made her laugh; but no, that would ruin the mood, so she kept her venomous glare in place.

“Tae-san!”

That was her dumb grandson’s sidekick, Mizuki. Dark skinned, some tattoos scattered here and there, ridiculous outfit. Tae addressed him with the same piercing look.

“Mizuki. How predictable. How is it that every single time there’s trouble you two are involved?”

The teenager grimaced but clearly couldn’t find what to say. Tae’s grandson, however, attempted a carefree laugh and rubbed his nape.

“Would it help if I said it was completely not on purpose?”

“Yeah, it was an accident, I swear!” Mizuki added.

Tae studied the boys through squinted eyes. The nerve they had…

“How can someone _accidentally_ and _not on purpose_ trash a night club, mind to tell me, Aoba?” she asked.

The boy offered her a nervous grin.

“Well… We were dancing and minding our own business, right? And then a huge, beefy guy appeared from somewhere and said we had pushed him and made him drop his drink, and he wanted us to pay him for a new one…”

“ _You_ pushed him, he said”, Mizuki pointed out.

“Perhaps, but you were the one who rushed to tell him there was no way in hell we were going to buy him a drink… And you said that almost yelling.”

Mizuki smirked and shrugged it off.

“He was an asshole, what did you want me to say?”

“Agreed!”

“But, just for the record”, Mizuki added raising his index finger, “ _you_ were the one who took down the extinguisher and turned it on against the asshole’s mates!”

And they high-fived. Tae could feel the vein on her forehead pulsing.

“Are you kids out of your mind?” The boys straightened up and turned serious, but their gazes weren’t as contrite as Tae would expect. She raised her voice a little more. “Are you aware of the charges against you?”

“It wasn’t a big deal…” Aoba muttered very quietly.

“No? The police officer has shown me a list of broken furniture for a value of some thousand dollars!” The teens lowered their heads at hearing that. “You are lucky they are going to let you go with only one night in jail and community services because of your age! Aoba, are you aware you aren’t even the legal age to go to clubs, right? Do you know the number of problems this kind of behavior can cause to us?” The boy nodded, very tense. Tae lowered her voice so only his grandson and his friend would hear. “The social services are going to visit us next week again, thanks to this. So please, I’m begging you… If you don’t start behaving, they could take you to a state home until you are of age. Is that what you want?”

Aoba opened his eyes wide as saucers and shook his head.

“I’m sorry, granny, I’ll do my best. I swear!”

The old woman sighed.

“Where have I heard that before? Well, there’s nothing we can do about that now. Come on, Aoba, grab your jacket, we are leaving.”

The boy hesitated for a moment.

“And what about Mizuki?” he asked, frowning.

Tae bit her lower lip.

“I… don’t have enough money to bail the two of you out”, she admitted, a tad embarrassed. “I’m sorry. Isn’t there someone he can phone for help, some relative?”

Her grandson and she glanced at the other teen, but the boy cast his gaze down. The answer was sadly obvious.

“Well, then…” Aoba sighed and offered her a bright smile. “I’ll have to stay here for the night with him. Sorry for the trouble again, grandma. See you tomorrow morning!”

“What?!” Mizuki looked at his friend as if he had grown a second head.

Tae wasn’t less horrified, but for once she couldn’t find her words.

“Aoba, you don’t need to do this!” Mizuki quickly added. “Go home, I appreciate it but there’s no need for the two of us spending an uncomfortable night in jail! Come on, mate!”

Aoba crossed his arms and gave his friend a fake patronizing look.

“But I want to. Look, I’m not going to change my mind.”

Sadly, Tae knew his grandson pretty well and could tell that was a fact: once his stubborn kid decided on something, it was almost impossible to make him change his mind. _Alright, then_ , she thought with an internal sigh.

“See you tomorrow at home”, she said. “But please, remember my words, and behave tonight! No fights, no rash acts, think before you speak...”

Aoba waved his grandmother and her words away.

“I know, I know… Bye!”

And she left.

Aoba turned to look at his friend with a wide grin… but Mizuki didn’t look exactly happy. The boy sat down on a bench by the cell’s wall.

“I’m sorry you have to go through this, Aoba. I meant it, there’s no need. I can stay here for the night on my own.”

Aoba sat down on the floor, next to him, since the rest of the bench was already taken. He let his eyes wander by their lodgings: the cell was big, but it didn’t have beds, only those metal benches attached to the walls. Some of their cellmates were already lying on them, making it clear that there weren’t enough benches for all. Perhaps if they were only sitting down, yes, but not if they wanted to sleep on them. _So the floor it is_ , Aoba thought, annoyed.

“What are you saying?” he asked, feigning amusement. “This will be fun: do you know someone who has spent a night in jail? You don’t, right? Imagine how cool it will be to show off in front of our friends!”

His words elicited a tiny smirk on Mizuki’s face. _Well, something is something!_ , Aoba thought.

“And, apart from the experience, it will be awesome being together in this!”

This made Mizuki smile sincerely at his friend. His eyes shone with fondness, and Aoba decided to change topics before his friend said something embarrassing and cheesy.

“Hmm, but you know? Perhaps you could have phoned your uncles…”

Mizuki huffed and pulled a face.

“Ouch, I’d rather not! Hearing your grandma yelling at us is better than the long faces and awkward silences of my uncles, believe me. Besides, I’m emancipated, for better or for worse. I can’t go back crying like a baby for help every time things go astray.”

Mizuki swelled with pride, and in that moment Aoba admired him: here he was, seventeen years old and already having found his own place in the world. It wasn’t a great place, alright, but it was way more than Aoba knew he was going to find, ever. His grandmother was right: he was reckless and stubborn, and a lot of things more, none of them very positive, and sometimes he had the impression he was just running in circles, chasing his own tail like a puppy.

Meanwhile, Mizuki lived on his own, in the back room of his tattoo parlor: he had his own store! How cool was that? He lived like a grown up, working and earning his money. He had even repaid his uncles for the money they lent him two years before to rent the place and start his business.

Sometimes Aoba was tempted to ask his friend if he missed his parents. They died in a car accident when he was twelve and had lived with relatives since, until the day he decided to drop out of school and start his tattoo business. Except that, if he asked that question, it would lead to having to talk about his own parents as well, and Aoba wasn’t ready for that. He doubted he would ever be. At least, Mizuki had closure about his parents, something Aoba didn’t have. Not about his real parents, not about his foster parents either, who could be dead or alive for all Aoba knew. So he, once again, refrained to ask Mizuki.

Instead, he asked something that never failed to cheer his friend up.

“And, how’s the store going? Any new tattoos planned?”

Mizuki’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. He started to explain Aoba about his new designs for tattoos, lamenting not having his notebook with him so he could show them to his friend.

“I’m not earning a lot yet, but you’ll see! It’s just a question of time! And, you know? There’s that friend of mine, Takazawa, who wants to be my partner in the business! He says we could open a bar in the shop and make a lot of money.”

“A bar?” The image of free beers flashed in front of Aoba’s face. “Amazing idea. Taka has all my support.”

“Ha, I knew you’d say that! But I don’t know if I want to have your lazy ass sitting on my shop the whole day, mate.”

Aoba pretended to be offended.

“Oi! Are you my friend or not?” Mizuki’s answer was a loud laugh. “AND, if I remember right, you are now in debt with me for staying tonight.” He raised a hand to smother his friend’s protests. “Ah, ah! What about studying some interesting tattoos, given that we are here? We could kill two birds with a stone.”

Baffled, Mizuki followed the direction of Aoba’s eyes and then groaned. His troublesome mate was staring at a bulky guy not much older than them, a couple of years at the most, and indeed some tattoos decorated his muscled arms. Aoba’s glance was turning more hungry and horny by the second.

“…So, this is the plan: you approach him, ask about who made his tattoos or any other shit like that, and then I casually join.” Aoba stood up with a smirk and started pulling his friend to his feet.

“I don’t want to be a party-pooper, but do you remember your grandma’s advice? It was a good advice!”

But, of course, Aoba had forced him to get up and was now pushing him onwards.

“…And what if he’s not into guys? Wouldn’t two fights in a single night be a little too much?”

A burst of laughter at his back was the answer. Despite himself, Mizuki smiled with amusement.

“At least I will get to grope those muscles first! Come on, mate, move! Let’s make a good story to tell our friends!”

And, of course, Mizuki obeyed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
